A Character Interview with Alexandra Galloway from POWER PLAY plus a conversation with author L. Anne Carrington!

Today we're bringing something different to Writing in the Modern
Age in the form of a character interview. These character interviews, now
and in the future, should prove to be very enlightening for all of us.

We have the pleasure of meeting Alexandra Galloway, a
character from Power Play.

We'll get a chance to talk to the
author, L. Anne Carrington, in a bit, but now we have on the stage...Alex!

Interview

Marie Lavender: Hello, Alexandra. Please have a seat.

Character Alexandra Galloway: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Marie: We're going to start out with some simple questions,
okay?

Alex: All right.

Marie: So, what is your occupation? Are you any good at
it? Do you like it?

Alex: I’m a
professional hockey player for the American Hockey Conference’s (AHC)
Pittsburgh Rebels. I was spotted by Rebels captain Troy Talmadge -who’s also my
mentor-during my days as an actress when I played a small part in the movie Vancouver Venus as the team member
scoring an important game’s winning goal. My on-ice talent impressed Troy
enough to have me signed by his agent, Glenn Collins. The original idea was to
get me into the Women’s Hockey League, but Glenn thought I’d make more of an
impact as the American Hockey Conference’s first female in an all-male league.

I
wasn’t sure at first if I enjoyed being part of the AHC as its sole woman
player, but making friends among my teammates-Davy St. Cloud is my best friend-Troy’s
never-ending support and guidance, and my amazing fan following made playing
for the Rebels one of the most exciting times of my life.

Marie: That's great!

So, what is your
family like?

Alex: I’m an only child. My father, Quinn 'Scot’ Galloway, was born in
Scotland and supported us as a groundskeeper and laborer, sometimes working
three jobs at a time to keep the household going and pay for all my lessons. He
died of a massive stroke when I was eighteen, leaving a life insurance policy
that paid for my move to New York from Morgantown, West Virginia to pursue an
acting career and supported me in addition to occasional acting gigs, none
of which got me anywhere until Vancouver
Venus.

My mother, Susan, abandoned us when I was only three months old. Papa
never talked about her much, but people who knew her said she was immature and
irresponsible for her age, not good traits for a parent. I never met her, but
saw photos when I cleaned the last place Papa and I lived following his death
and noticed I’d inherited her violet eyes.

Marie: I see.

What did your childhood home look like?

Alex: Papa
and I moved a lot. Some houses we rented looked like barracks-like barns while
others were splendid. Times were tough, but Papa made sure we had necessities such as food and clothes. I didn’t have a lot of nice things like my school
classmates, but loved and admired Papa for working hard so I could have acting,
singing, archery, and dancing lessons in addition to playing hockey.

Marie: All right.

So, do you have any hobbies now? What do you enjoy
doing?

Alex: When
it’s not game night, I’m not at practices, or taking part in charity
appearances with Rebels teammates, I enjoy researching my Scottish heritage and
read a lot of books. Troy recently got me into World War II stuff and
influenced me to find out more about his Atlantic Canadian roots-he’s from Nova
Scotia-and Davy plays a big part in me collecting British artifacts since he
sends things while staying in London with his parents each summer. Byron, Brady
and I attend church Sunday mornings before practice in whatever town the Rebels
happen to be playing that night.

I
speak three other languages in addition to English: Czech, German, and French,
so I know exactly when Greise Faust and Troy curse in other languages and Jax
Ivanka’s his dirty old man self. All three think they’re slick, but I know
otherwise. I also learned American Sign Language as part of gaining versatility
as an actress; while of little use then, it paid off when I taught Brian
Donahue. He’s partially deaf from being injured in a Texas oil rig explosion
where he worked before going into professional hockey. He’s a great lip reader
but his sign language skills were almost nonexistent. Brian and I became good
friends as result of me teaching him ASL; he’s the big brother I never had.

Marie: Okay.

So, what is your greatest dream, Alex?

Alex: To help my team win another Princeton Trophy! Aside
from that, I’d like to marry and have children someday with the right man,
whom, by the way, I have yet to meet.

Marie: I can certainly respect that!

Let's try something else.

What kind of person do you wish you could
be? What is stopping you?

Alex: I’m happy with the person I am, thanks to Papa. He prepared me well for
life’s ups and downs and said I could achieve anything I wanted by putting both
mind and determination to it.

Marie: A wise man indeed.

So...who was your first love?

Alex: Maxim Stanley. We were together six years and played
on the same midget and junior hockey teams. He always picked me flowers and
beat up anyone who teased me. He was raised by a single mom, so we shared the
benefits and drawbacks of coming from one-parent homes. When we were fourteen,
Max and his mom moved shortly after she married his stepfather. I cried for
weeks afterward!

Marie: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Alexandra. :(

Let's try a different question.

What's the most terrible thing that ever
happened to you?

Alex: Papa’s sudden death. We ate breakfast together that
morning before he went to his first job. I was called to the principal’s office
during third period math and told he had a stroke on the golf course grounds.
He died not long after in the emergency room. It took me a long time to
recover; his birthday and date of death remain rough days for me.

Marie: Oh, no! I'm so sorry, Alex. I know what it's like not to get to say goodbye to a loved one...(Pats her guest's hand.)

(Pauses.)

Let's try something else, shall we?

(Nods.)

What was your dream growing up? Did you achieve that dream? If
so, in what ways was it not what you expected? If you never achieved the dream,
why not?

Alex: I
wanted to be an actress from age six. I guess in some ways I made the dream
come true if one considers bit parts, walk-on roles, and being a movie extra
achieving one’s dream. I can’t be totally critical, however; it was Vancouver Venus that got me into playing
professional hockey, something I’d never before considered. Well, that movie
role and then becoming Troy’s protégé.

Marie: So, who is your role
model, Alex?

Alex: Call me biased if you’d like, but it’s Troy. Sure, he
tends to give referees a hard time and uses filthy language (in both English
and French) when things aren’t going the Rebels’ way during games. He can be a
total pain in the ass sometimes, but does the title of team captain proud. He’s
sweet, smart, sexy, great with kids, an excellent leader in both locker room and on the ice, gracious with
fans, and doesn’t take bashing from his detractors and media to heart.

Marie: (Smiles.) Hmm...I see.

Let's try another question.

Is there someone you pretend to like but really dislike?

Alex: There
are a few, but I won’t mention any names.

What is your deepest desire?

Alex: Maybe one day own a
hockey team or be a film director.

Marie: All right.

One more question...

So, what is your greatest fear?

Alex: Snakes. I don’t know
what prompted me being afraid of them, but when I first came to the Rebels, Jax
somehow found out and thought it would be hilarious to put a giant rubber snake
in my locker. I thought it was real and screamed so loud I could be heard down
the corridor. Jax came close to getting the shit beaten out of him by Davy,
Brian, and Troy over that incident, but we all laugh about it now.

Marie: Wow. I can't blame you for not liking snakes. (Shudders.)

Well, it looks like we're running out of time, Alex. Thank you
for visiting us today.

Alex: Thank you for letting me visit.

Marie: Of course! I wish you
luck with everything. It was so interesting getting to know you. (Waves at her guest as she heads off the stage.)

Now, let's shift over
and get the author's perspective. We have L. Anne Carrington on the stage
today! Hi, Lori!

Author L. Anne Carrington:
Hi, Marie! It's nice to be here!

Marie: (Smiles.) Welcome back to Writing in the Modern Age! It's been awhile...

So, we just
got to talk to the heroine of your story, Alexandra. Quite an interesting
character. Can you tell us a little about her?

L. Anne: Alex is five feet tall and 140 pounds with reddish-brown hair and
violet eyes. She has training in acting,
vocal music, ballroom dancing, archery, and hockey (field, street, ice). Her
intended ambition was to be an actress, but despite efforts made by her
theatrical agent, Doris Mullens, Alex’s acting jobs were usually bit parts,
walk-on roles, the chorus, or as a crowd scene extra.

When
Doris sends her on an interview for Vancouver
Venus, a motion picture docudrama about the struggling Canadian Ladies
Hockey League team, Alex is selected as a Venus center with three speaking
lines. That role - and grabbing the attention of Pittsburgh Rebels captain Troy
Talmadge when he visits friends on the set while in town for a game - resulted
in a more successful career she never before considered: becoming a
professional hockey player best known for breaking the American Hockey
Conference’s (AHC) gender barrier when she joined the Rebels as its first
female member.

Marie: All right.

So, what are your character's greatest
strengths?

L. Anne:Alex is compassionate, a great listener,
empathetic, a hard worker, intelligent, and has
a knack championing for anyone at a disadvantage, and willing to do what it takes to help her team in any possible way.

Marie: Okay.

What
are her greatest weaknesses?

L. Anne:No
pun intended, but Alex sometimes tends to be bit of a rebel. One of her
favorite sayings is “I’m of Scottish blood, I’m headstrong, and I like getting
my way.” She locks horns with Troy Talmadge a great deal at the beginning of
her career. For example, he tries to guide her to improve in specific areas, but
she’s happy with the way things are.

Marie: So, what are some of her favorite
foods?

L. Anne:To Troy’s chagrin, Alex has a love for coffee,
Diet Pepsi, and peanut M&Ms. She’s
been known to sneak a burger or vanilla caramel ice cream while the team’s nutritionist has her on a specific eating
program and Troy wants her to work out more
often than she already does.

Marie: (Laughs.) Those aren't so bad.

So, what's a positive quality that your character is
unaware that he or she has?

L. Anne:I don’t think Alex realizes how strong a woman she is
while being part of what’s predominately a man’s world. She initially endured
disapproval from veteran Jax Ivanka, who once thought women had no place in the
American Hockey Conference, let alone with the Rebels. But when Alex stood up
to Jax (and they develop a flirtatious relationship afterward), the trait for
standing for what she believes in benefits in many other aspects.

Marie: Will readers like or dislike this
character, and why?

L. Anne: I think many readers will love Alex, especially those raised by single
parents. There are times she has a lapses in judgment (e.g.: getting drunk with
Jax following another verbal battle with Troy) and others where she takes
initiative (e.g.: teaching Brian sign language), has little shame of who or
what she is, and going the distance for her team.

Marie: All right.

Well, now that we have a real taste of Alex Galloway, we have a few questions for you as well as the author.

What first gave you the idea for Power Play?

L. Anne: I developed a love for hockey about two years ago
through my significant other. Many who read my work know most of my genres is
sports-based fiction-specifically professional wrestling-but I wanted to go in
a different direction while staying in sports fiction. I figured why not try
writing a hockey-based novel with a twist?

Believe it or not, some people would like to see
female NHL players; as a matter of fact, it happened for a brief period in the
early 1990's. Manon Rheume, an Olympic silver medalist goalie in Nagano for the
Team Canada women's hockey team, was goaltender for the NHL’s Tampa Bay
Lightning during its 1992 and 1993 preseasons. So the idea of women in the NHL
may once again become reality in the not-so-distant future.

Marie: Interesting!

What is your writing
style like, Lori? Are you a pantster or a plotter?

L. Anne: I’m for most part a
plotter. I love doing character portraits and developed what I call ‘sketch notebooks’ for each novel I’ve
written. I’ll have visions as to general story
ideas, the characters’ appearances, personalities, quirks, etc., and additional thoughts that immediately come to
mind. The Power Play sketch notebook
was loaded with random thoughts before
being fit into various parts of my manuscript.

Marie: Great!

So, I’m throwing this one in for our aspiring
writers. Did you come across any specific challenges in writing Power Playor getting it published? What would you do differently
the next time?

L. Anne: Not really. I’ve had books published since 2010, and watching a lot of hockey games played a role in getting
the book written. Developing personalities for Power Play’s characters was actually
fun.

Marie:
Well, it sounds like a great book!

It was such a pleasure having you
here on Writing in the Modern Age, Lori. We hope you can come back
sometime! :)

Readers,
I hope you all get a chance to pick up a copy of this awesome book!Power
Playis set for release by Palm Tree Books in late September
to mid-October of 2015, with Kindle and paperback editions on Amazon, and
paperback through Barnes and Noble and expanded distribution channels.

Here is the blurb for Power Play.

Alexandra “Alex” Galloway had
lifelong ambitions of acting on Broadway, television, or in movies. Despite
versatility in a wide range of regional dialects, stunt work, singing, ballroom
dancing, archery, and field, street, and ice hockey, she has thus far been
limited to an endless string of film extra and uncredited roles.

Alex’s small part in an
underdog women’s hockey team film catches the eye of a visitor to the Vancouver
set while in town for a game – Troy Talmadge, star and team captain of the
American Hockey Conference’s Pittsburgh Rebels.

Dazzled by her on-ice flair,
Troy appoints himself as Alex’s mentor. He urges his agent to take her on as a
client and signed to a Women’s Hockey League contract, but the agent has
something far better in mind: having her drafted as the AFC’s first woman
player, specifically to the Rebels.

Will Alex survive the
pressures that accompany her newly-found professional hockey career…or does it
slowly freeze much as her previous stint as an actress?

About L. Anne Carrington:

L. Anne Carrington is an
award-winning Amazon bestselling author, freelance writer/journalist, and radio
show host whose previous work covered topics from fiction to news stories,
human interest features, and entertainment reviews. She wrote The Wrestling Babe Internet column for
seven years, a former music reviewer for Indie
Music Stop, former book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon and
Schuster), and pens several other works which appears in both print and Web
media. One of her freelance articles, An
Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness, was bought by Internet
Broadcasting Systems, a company that co-produced NBCOlympics.com for the 2004
Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in addition to
being the leading provider of Web sites, content and advertising revenue
solutions to the largest and most successful media companies.

In addition to her acclaimed
novels in The Cruiserweight Series
and nonfiction wrestling bestseller Billy
Kidman: The Shooting Star among works of both fiction and nonfiction, Ms.
Carrington hosts The L. Anne Carrington
Show on Spreaker Radio.

She spends time between
Pittsburgh, PA and Tampa, FL, continuing to write.

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